Steriuzing-retort



Patented May I6, i899.

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F. wr. SMITH. STERILIZING RETURT.

(Application led Ju1y 23, 1898.)

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ANrrE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK WV. SMITH, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

sTERILizlNe-RETORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 624,989, dated May 16, 1899.

Application led .l'uly 23, 1898. Serial No. 686,652. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be .it known that I, FRANK W. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine,'have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sterilizing-Retorts; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to retorts by which meats, vegetables,l and other foods and substances contained in hermetically-sealed vessels or other packages may be sterilized by subjecting them to the action of steam or heat; and it consists in certain mechanism by which the vessels or packages may be rotated while subjected to the actionof the steam or heat within the retort.

The invention embraces a box or cylinder having a door secured in the ordinary manner, so as to render the retort steam-tight, a car upon which the trays containingthe cans otherwise placed within the retort, and means in each tray whereby the cans resting thereonv may be rotated by means applied from without the retort.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical section of the retort and part of thecar, the remainder of the car being shown inside elevation; Fig. 2, an end view of the retort; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section of a tray; Fig. 4, a detail in part section of one end of a tray, showing the mechanism for rotating the cans; Fig. 5, a horizontal section of part of the retort, showing part of a tray in top plan.

Referring to the drawings, ais the retort, c being the door.

ZJ is the car, which is of the ordinary construction, provided with trucks in the usual manner and having` the rear end open.

At the side of the rear end of the retort is placed a vertical shaft d, which at regular intervals is provided with worms c, and also has at the top a beveled gear f, which matches with the beveled gear g on the shaft h, which is placed upon the top of the retort and which at the opposite end is provided with a pulley 2. The sides of the car are provided within at equal intervals with ledges, the spaces between the respective ledges being substana top of the endless chain nare secured slats pp.

The sprocket-wheels should be so placed that the upper surface of the slats p p when upon the tops of the sprockets should be about upon a level with the top of the walls of the tray. The tops of the trays are provided, as seen in Fig. 4, at equal intervals with ears, in which,

extending from side to side of the tray, are the rods r r, the intervals or spaces between the rods being slightly greater than the diameter of the cans to be treated.` Upon the righthand end` of the shafts Z Z, at the rear of the trays, are placed the gears oo.

The operation of the device is as follows: The cans are placed between the rods r r, as shown in Fig. 4., until the trays are completely filled. The trays are then run into the carb from the open end upon the ledges, the gears o being all upon the same side and the wallof the car being slotted at the proper points to receive the shafts ZZ, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. When the caris full, itis then rolled into the retort through the door c until the rear truck rests against the stop s upon. the bottom of the retort, when the gears o will match with the worms e upon the shaft CZ.

The forward wheels ofthe car are secured by the trig or stop t upon the floor of theretort. The door c of the retort is now secured in position, the steam or heat admitted, and power applied to the pulley c', causing the worms c to rotate, thus revolving the gears o, which put in motion the endless chain n, which by friction upon the peripheries of the cans causes them to revolve. In this manner the contents of the cans are kept in constant agitation while the cooking process goes on. When the contentsof the cans have been sufficiently cooked, the doors are opened, the car removed, and the cans taken from the car.

What I claim is- In a retort for sterilizing food contained in cans or other cylindrical packages, the combination of a retort having a horizontal shaft with worms thereon, a car provided with trays, said trays having therein sprocket-` IOO slats, `gears outside said trays intermatehing my invention I have hereunto set my hand with said Worms and means upon the tops of this 21st day of July, A. D. 1898. the trays ,whereby one row of cans may be l separated from those adjacent to it whereby FRANK T SMITH' 5 said cans are revolved on their own axes, sub- In presence ofstantially as described. GEO. E. BIRD,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as WVM. M. BRADLEY. 

